
Photo courtesy of Bob Miyamoto.
“Al, I appreciate you! I was hooked after getting my hands on “The Corbina Diaries”. I caught my first corbina on the fly. Thank you for sharing your passion.” – Sam Triantis
PS: Hats off to Kesley and Scott for taking a group of fly anglers out to the surf in good conditions to show them the corbina game. Take note that Sam’s fish was fair-hooked, (in the mouth) there are many fish showing up on instagram these days that are foul-hooked (me and the Corbina Patrol never take a grin and grip shot of a fouled fish, the fish has to eat the fly! That’s the challenge. ), it easy to foul a fish when they stack up in pods. Believe me, we all foul em, you can’t help it when you’re sight casting to groups. It’s a let down for me when that happens, not a celebration. This is a great accomplishment by Sam. His first fair-caught bean in the surf, it doesn’t get better than that. WTG dude! You have become an honorary member of the Corbina Patrol. – Al Q
Last week’s minus, early morning low tides produced a few nice fish for the boys…the water temps are still a little cool in my opinion, varying around 63 to 65. The next early July new moon tide cycle, is the best Corbina opportunity you will have if you want to land one on a fly especially if the water temps hit the magic 67 plus…it should be wide open with fish crawling all over the place… hope to see some new faces on the beach…tight lines and message me on this board if you have any questions…
-Al Q
My good buddy and “Corbina Whisperer” Jon Nakano will be joining forces with me to help you get that dreaded Corbina tick off your list or perhaps make you a better Corbina fly fisher if you have caught them before. We will be presenting at the Fly Fair at the Glendale Civic Auditorium, both Saturday and Sunday. Jon and I have over forty years combined experience, flyfishing for beans and are willing to share our secrets and experience on the sand with you, so please try not to miss this one, it should be very informative…
The water temps hit the magic mark and the beans are crawling. In the last two days, my buddy Jon Nakano and I landed 8 fish on fly. Four a piece. We each had a few bust off as well. This morning for kicks Jon busted out the spin reel and landed another four within a forty five minute window on live crabs. Pretty sick sight fishing. I have been fishing a slightly different fly pattern than the standard tied surfin merkin I usually fish with confidence. The surfin merkin is wide, they can be trimmed but overall flat in nature. I am making my EP sand crabs a little slender, more of a tear drop shape and taller in profile by stacking the fibers in a hi-tie style and they are getting eaten pretty well, so as they say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, I am staying with it. I got one fish a week ago on a white, the others all on grey and pink. Grey and pink work equally the same, i have no preference. Size 6 hook. Use a thin wire hook to stick em. My advice for beginners is don’t give up, this is a hard game, one if not the toughest in flyfishing. I have been on it for over twenty years and it still drives me crazy. Spend more time walking and looking for groups of fish, they are your best shot, if you haven’t gotten one on fly yet. Make the cast count, anticipate their next move, think like a corbina, watch the nervous water…and try to continue to breath…lol
I love those days when the wind is down, the swell is dead flat and the sun lights up the water like your in the Bahamas fishing for bonefish in a swimming pool. You can spot Corbina all lit up, a half a mile a way. NOT!!!!
Sunday’s early morning session was crazy with rain, wind, no sun, choppy surf. Even though conditions were not favorable, our Corbina posse landed seven fish, which is an above the average Corbina count, given this fish’s ability to drive you crazy and have lock jaw often… we had a small swell but the wind tended to foam up the beach making sight fishing pretty difficult, so what do ya do? You can go home and curl up in bed or you can tough up and spend more time searching and less time standing around waiting for something to happen. The moral of the story? Study the beach, walk! Once we located fish in one particular area the boys put a hurt on them. Tod who went through a long fishes streak, hooked five and landed three. It can be done, I have seen this scenario played out before. This game is about perseverance, don’t get frustrated. the more time you put in on the beach the more the rhythms of the beach become apparent. Watching these fish work the surf line is for me just as cool as catching them. Be one with the bean! The anglers that catch them consistently are usually in areas where the corbina are most of the time. Finding those areas is what separates the average weekend warrior with the seasoned veterans. Even on beaches with no structure the fish spread out but there will be a small seam or slight depression or sand crab bed that will concentrate more fish in a particular area. This is what we look for, it is prime real estate in bean town baby. Tight lines
-Al Q
A beautiful corbina landed by our friend and fellow fly angler, Mark Flo at one of our local beaches a few days ago on a pink surfing merkin. Photo courtesy of Mark Flo.